Former Leone Stars skipper maintains innocence
February 16, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Former Sierra Leone national team captain, Ibrahim ‘Obreh’ Kargbo, continues to voice his innocence about all match-fixing allegations against him by the Dutch Football Association and its Integrity Committee.
The former Willem II midfielder is facing a criminal prosecution after the Dutch FA said it had found evidence that he helped fix an Eredivisie (Dutch top tier league) match.
An investigation carried by the Dutch Football Association’s Integrity Committee found that the former Leone Stars midfielder had agreed a deal with popular convicted Singaporean match-fixer, Wilson Raj Perumal, to fix a Willem II clash against FC Utrecht in August 2009.
Also, they claimed that Kargbo tried to fix the result of a charity match between Willem II and Sierra Leone in 2009.
However, the 33-year-old, who last played for Thamesmead Town in the English non-league, said he had never involved in any match-fixing in Holland and that he never had a contact with Perumal.
Kargbo told Concord Sports: “I have seen what they have as evidence against me and that particular email they claimed I exchanged with Perumal, I was not the one that sent it. I had an interview with the police last week [and] they showed me everything; and those things were not from me.”
A statement from the Dutch football body says the KNVB’s Integrity Committee found that Kargbo had agreed a deal to lose the FC Utrecht match by a two-goal margin but Utrecht won the game 1-0. Kargbo and two other teammates allegedly stood to earn €200,000 for securing the result, but the payment was cut to €75,000 due to the failure of losing the said match by more than one goal.
Meanwhile, the Dutch football authorities have also handed over case files to the international governing bodies UEFA and FIFA.